Apart from the 24 centrally-funded institutions, out of the rest among the 161 engineering institutions that have applied for funding under Phase II of Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme, 60 are in the four southern States.
Andhra Pradesh with 22 and Karnataka with 19 colleges rank topmost among the States with the highest number of institutions in the entire country. Thirteen institutions in Kerala and five in Tamil Nadu have submitted their Institutional Development Proposals for TEQIP II funding. Among northern States, Maharashtra and West Bengal have the highest number of applicants for TEQIP funding with 16 and 15 institutions respectively.
Eligibility for autonomy
The institutions chosen for TEQIP funding are expected to produce evidence of grant of autonomy by the University Grants Commission through the affiliating university, at the time of signing of Memorandum of Understanding. These institutions have to fulfil eligibility conditions by this month-end.
For most of the applicants, the recognition associated with the prestigious programme is what matters the most, according to TEQIP Coordinator at National Institute of Technology - Tiruchi, Prof. Swaminathan.
Focus on quality
The project supports quality improvement of the technical and engineering education system in the country to produce high quality technical professionals in order to raise productivity and competitiveness of the economy. It assists reforms in competitively selected engineering institutions from the participating States in achieving their own vision of academic excellence, including networking with others, and service to community and economy.
Selection
The selection of institutions for TEQIP II funding will be conducted under two sub-components: ‘Strengthening institutions to improve learning outcomes and employability of graduates' and 'Scaling-up Postgraduate Education and Demand Driven Research & Development and Innovation'.
On the agenda
Under the first sub-component of the Institutional Development Proposal, the institutional preparedness, implementation feasibility, and clarity and quality of the action plan to achieve will be determined by the National Project Implementation Unit.
Project Institutions participating in the first sub-component need to be autonomous and fulfil UGC norms to improve quality and relevance of the knowledge and skills of the graduates through betterment in curriculum and assessment methods.
Under the second sub-component, institutions are benchmarked on the basis of curricular reforms, autonomy, quality and strength of faculty, delegation of decision-making powers, improved student performance evaluation, performance appraisal of faculty by students, faculty incentive for continuing education and consultancy; and accreditation of UG and PG programmes.
TEQIP II will also pave the way for establishing centres of excellence; faculty development for effective teaching; and improving system management through capacity building.
